Jeanine Malan | Travel & Lifestyle

The Power of Mind over Matter, etc.

Did you know that you’re capable of changing the way your brain functions physically? Dr Caroline Leaf, a world-renowned Christian cognitive neuroscientist, claims that we truly possess the power of mind over matter.

I go to Hillsong Church Somerset West, and this morning I was pleasantly surprised by Dr Leaf’s insightful message, a combination of spirituality and science.

Mind over Matter

Dr Caroline Leaf started out by explaining that our three core actions are “thinking, feeling and choosing”. And these are the powerful factors that can change our lives for the better.

So, basically, we humans are made up of part physical and part non-physical. She claimed that the non-physical makes up 90-99% of who you are (and she has scientific evidence to back that up, of course, but I’m not going to go into that).

Therefore, “you have power over the physical“.

Furthermore, Dr Leaf explained that we are designed to think, feel and choose well. But we don’t always do this, resulting in a toxic lifestyle.

The world treats us like we are machines, convincing us that our brains create our minds. Consequently, we end up locking ourselves into labels like ‘anxiety’, ‘depression’ and more.

Connect the Disconnect

Basically, there’s this disconnect between our minds and our brains.

“This disconnect needs to be bridged,” she said.

The trick, moreover, is to live with the awareness that you have the power of mind over matter within you – every moment you’re alive, you are creating matter, creating your next reality.

Renew Your Mind

The key to taking control of your physical matter is living a lifestyle of the renewed mind.

You have to switch your mind on, realising that your thoughts control your DNA. It’s up to you to manage to your thoughts, feelings and choices.

You must capture your thoughts every ten seconds, according to Dr Leaf.

“If you deliberately and intentionally control your thoughts,” she said, “you can change your brain.”

Yes, you heard me: YOU can change your brain.

“When you think and renew your mind, you are actually changing the physical structures in your brain. You are redesigning the landscape of your brain and you’re changing your body.”

Dr Caroline Leaf (2015)

As you think, as you choose, you are. “You create your next reality,” as Dr Leaf says.

This is why it is super important to manage your mind. Because, the thing is, if you don’t manage your mind properly, you abuse it. You simply can’t function optimally, and the result is a brain filled with toxicity.

“Research shows that 75-98% of all mental, physical, and behavioural illness is caused by our thoughts,” she explained in illustration. Crazy, isn’t it?